Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Jamaica's former High Commissioner to Nigeria Dudley Thompson speaks at the opening day of the Pan Afrikan Movement Summit at Liberty Hall Museum yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Former Jamaican High Commissioner to Nigeria Dudley Thompson yesterday demanded afull and formal apology for slavery from former colonial power Britain in a year commemorating the 200th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade.

Thompson, a former Cabinet Minister in the Michael Manley administration of the 1970s, was addressing a Pan Afrikan Movement Summit which opened at the historic Liberty Hall in downtown Kingston.

While former Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the trade, he has not made a formal apology on behalf of the British governments.

Former British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had ruled out the possibility of a full apology, saying that his country would instead concentrate on assisting African countries.

But yesterday, Thompson under-scored the need for an emphatic statement of regret.

"We want you to come out to the world and say 'We were wicked people, we committed a wicked crime', because if you don't mean it in your heart, you are not going to follow though with your action," he said. "And that is the first thing we are asking for in reparation and we are not going to let it go!"

Blair has also come under fire from quarters in his own country.

Just over three months ago Mayor of London Ken Livingstone raked the British Government over the coals, calling for public contrition over "the murder of millions and torture of millions more".

Livingstone argued: "The British Government must formally apologise for it. All attempts to evade this are weasel words; delay demeans our country."

Thompson also called for a united front on the matter from Jamaica's major political parties.

"The first thing you people have to do ... is to join together and tell them that we are suffering as a result of slavery," he said.

Following this confession, Thompson said the Jamaican leaders should ask for atonement through debt reduction and a systematic revival of British financial assistance. He also pointed to a decline in funding from the United Kingdom in recent times, with assistance slumping to £7.18 million in 2007, from £12.28 million in 2004.

Thompson suggested that the leaders should ask Britain for assistance in financing the review of the judiciary, a point which he said was first recommended by attorney-at-law Lord Anthony Gifford.

The summit, which will see a gathering of prominent leaders of the Pan Afrikan Movement, ends on Wednesday.

Dr. Julius Garvey, son of National Hero and pan-Africanist philosopher Marcus Garvey, who should have addressed the opening session of the summit, did not show because of travel difficulties.

The summit will move to the University of the West Indies, Mona campus today where Thompson will give the keynote address.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com